Hurricanes Grab Top Receiver and Ray Lewis' Son

Thursday

Feb 7, 2013 at 7:04 AM

The most pleasant National Signing Day surprise for the University of Miami on Wednesday was the signing of Stacy Coley, regarded by ESPN as the top wide receiver in the state. Coley, a 6-1, 175-pounder from Fort Lauderdale Northeast, had been considered to be leaning toward Florida State. Instead, he will add to a talented group of young Hurricanes receivers.

BY WALTER VILLALEDGER CORRESPONDENT

CORAL GABLES | The most pleasant National Signing Day surprise for the University of Miami on Wednesday was the signing of Stacy Coley, regarded by ESPN as the top wide receiver in the state.Coley, a 6-1, 175-pounder from Fort Lauderdale Northeast, had been considered to be leaning toward Florida State. Instead, he will add to a talented group of young Hurricanes receivers.“He’s one of the most fluid receivers we’ve seen in a long while,” Canes coach Al Golden said.The Hurricanes got two other players who waited until Wednesday to commit: linebacker Jermaine Grace of Miramar and the nation’s top-ranked fullback, Gus Edwards from New York. The Canes’ biggest miss on Wednesday was their failure to sign linebacker Matthew Thomas of Miami’s Booker T. Washington. He signed instead with FSU.Golden didn’t mention Thomas by name but acknowledged that there was a “highly sought linebacker locally” that the Canes did not get. The coach, who signed just 15 players, also said for the first time that the Canes have self-imposed a reduction of scholarships this year because of the “improper benefits” scandal associated with jailed former booster Nevin Shapiro.Golden would not say how many scholarships were involved in the self-imposed penalty. He did say, however, that only 27 players visited UM, also because of the self-imposed penalty. He said he ran out of scholarships for some of the players who wanted to come to Miami. But he hinted he might give out one more if running back Alex Collins decides to come to Miami.Canes, a four-star recruit, originally committed to Miami and then switched to Arkansas. But his mother refused to sign the scholarship papers and badly wants him to play for the Canes.Golden admitted that the fear of the unknown – the impending NCAA sanctions – scared away some recruits. He defended his record on signing South Florida players – four of this year’s 15 recruits are from Miami-Dade or Broward – and acknowledged that defensive tackle was a need area that went unfilled.Asked how often recruits ask about the impending sanctions, Golden grimaced.“Just about every other question,” he said.On the positive side, Golden said he was thrilled with the players he did get, including New Jersey quarterback Kevin Olsen, one of the Canes’ seven recruits rated as a four-star player.Coley and Grace are also on that list along with defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad, tight end Beau Sandland and defensive backs Jamal Carter and Artie Burns.A recruit who will be highly scrutinized will be running back Ray Lewis III, the son of the former Hurricanes star who just ended his NFL career with a Super Bowl win with the Baltimore Ravens.“I don’t worry about the (recruits) we didn’t get,” Golden said. “I’m here to talk about the ones we did get. I can’t wait to get them on campus.”